The Blues' game against the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday night
was postponed because of a storm cutting a frigid path across much
of the nation.

A makeup date has not been set for the NHL game, which would
have been the first since the All-Star break for both teams.

The Toronto Raptors, meanwhile, were still hoping to make it to
Atlanta for Wednesday night's NBA game. In the meantime, they were
stuck in Indianapolis for the second straight day.

The Raptors were supposed to fly out of Indy after Monday
night's 104-93 loss to the Pacers, but their flight was canceled
because of the storm. The Raptors tried to take off again Tuesday
and instead spent five hours aboard their chartered airplane before
that trip was wiped out, too.

Team spokesman Jim LaBumbard said players passed the time on the
plane watching movies, listening to their headsets and eating. The
Raptors planned to try again Wednesday, but as for getting to
Atlanta in time, "it's too early to tell," LaBumbard said.

The weather was fine in California, but the storm might cause
the Boston Celtics to extend their West Coast trip.

Coach Doc Rivers said before the Celtics' game at Sacramento
that the team was exploring options to get back to Boston but would
likely stay in northern California for an extra night because of
the severe weather moving across the country.

The Celtics were finishing up a four-game road trip against the
Kings on Tuesday night.

Rivers said he was still thinking about flying at least part of
the way back to Boston. But he said his team could use the rest, so
they probably wouldn't fly back until Wednesday.

The Celtics don't play again until Friday at home against theDallas Mavericks. There were clear skies with temperatures reaching
the 60s earlier in the day in Sacramento.

In New York, the Pittsburgh Penguins were hoping to fly home
after their 4-3 shootout win over the Rangers. They are scheduled
to play the New York Islanders in Pittsburgh on Wednesday night.

"The plan is to [fly home], right now," Penguins coach Dan
Bylsma said. "We're hustling to get out of here. We're hopeful. We
also have rooms, if we don't."

The airport in Dallas -- the destination for thousands trying to
get to Sunday's Super Bowl -- was among those shut down. Walkways
outside Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, were like sheets of
ice.

The National Weather Service advised Wisconsin travelers bound
for Texas to wait until Wednesday evening, with up to 20 inches of
snow forecast for the Milwaukee area.

The Packers, no stranger to winter chill, have decided to practice indoors Wednesday at Highland Park High School. The Packers were originally set to practice outdoors at SMU, but a team spokesman had indicated to ESPN's Chris Mortensen earlier Tuesday that the Packers would decide Wednesday morning where to hold practice later that day, depending on the SMU field conditions and the weather.

"It's a little too cold for me," linebacker Clay Matthews
said. "Texas is supposed to be hot and humid. I was looking
forward to that. I am a California guy."

Villanova's women's basketball team was stuck in Milwaukee after
losing to Marquette. The Wildcats' charter back to Philadelphia was
canceled.

"A friend actually texted me earlier this morning and said
there's 'life-threatening conditions' so I knew we weren't going
anywhere," said Villanova's Heather Scanlon, who finished with 15
points in the 62-57 loss.

The Wildcats said they planned to get back to the hotel and
catch up on their studies.

"It would be a lot better stuck in the snow with our first Big
East win," Amanda Swiezynski said. "We're missing a lot of
school, so we're doing a lot of homework."

The Penn State men's basketball team made it to Champaign, Ill.,
for its game Tuesday night against Illinois despite heavy snow.

Penn State spokesman Brian Siegrist said the team arrived around
1 p.m. by bus from Evansville, Ind. The team's charter flight was
diverted there Monday night because of weather conditions in
central Illinois.

The men's Big 12 basketball game in Norman, Okla., on Tuesday
night was called off and rescheduled for Wednesday afternoon, when
admission will be free.

Also postponed were the men's and women's Tuesday night games
featuring Southeast Missouri at Southern Illinois-Edwardswille.

Villanova's men's basketball game with Marquette was moved up two hours in an
effort to avoid the worst of a blizzard bearing down on Milwaukee,
but the Wildcats learned shortly before tip that their charter
flight was grounded until Wednesday.

The team hopes to leave sometime in the early afternoon,
contingent on the weather in Philadelphia, a spokeswoman said.

Georgia's basketball team sat on a plane in Augusta for hours, according to ESPN.com's Andy Katz. The team will stay in Augusta overnight and try to get to Arkansas on Wednesday for Wednesday night's game.

The Nebraska women's basketball team plays at Missouri on
Wednesday. Cornhuskers spokesman Jeff Griesch said the team bus was
rolling through whiteout conditions on Interstate 70. He didn't
know whether the team would fly or bus back to Lincoln after the
game.

Missouri has been hit by what could be its worst winter
storm in decades, a dangerous mix of snow, freezing rain, wind and
cold. In Oklahoma, whiteouts paralyzed Oklahoma City and the Tulsa area, and
blowing snow created drifts up to 4 feet high. Conditions in the
area were so forbidding that The Humane Society of Missouri urged
people to bring pets inside.

In the Big Ten, the Indiana men tentatively plan to play their
Wednesday night game against Minnesota now that the Gophers have
landed in Indianapolis.

The Air Force women's basketball team abandoned the skies
Tuesday, deciding to bus rather than fly to New Mexico for
Wednesday night's game.

The storm also had an effect in the East, where Aqueduct
canceled Wednesday's racing card. The forecast for the New York
area called for a mix of rain, sleet and ice.